


Something Hallowed, Something True

by Lokne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Courting Rituals, F/M, Fluff, Gift Giving, Happy Ending, Neville is smooth, Pre-Relationship, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Secret Admirer, knickers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23372476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokne/pseuds/Lokne
Summary: Henrietta gazed at the small package, shocked that she received a gift. The wrapping paper was vibrant and beautiful. The numerous red and gold ribbons curled around the edges, drawing her attention to the elaborate bow. She flicked a ribbon and tried to decide if she wanted to open it. This was her first courtship offer and it was . . . unusual.
Relationships: Neville Longbottom/Female Harry Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 312





	Something Hallowed, Something True

**Author's Note:**

> A repost of an old fic of mine.

Henrietta gazed at the small package, shocked that she received a gift. The wrapping paper was vibrant and beautiful. The numerous red and gold ribbons curled around the edges, drawing her attention to the elaborate bow. She flicked a ribbon and tried to decide if she wanted to open it. This was her first courtship offer and it was . . . unusual. A pureblood wizard would normally send her a marriage contract. Her father gave her permission to choose her husband. Her father refused to get involved because he wanted her to marry for love. Love was won, not forced. Henrietta was grateful. She didn’t want to marry someone because it would bring her family more wealth or honor. 

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Fay Dunbar asked as she ate more of her breakfast. She nudged the gift closer to her best friend, as if gaining her permission would make Henrietta unwrap it.

Henrietta rolled her eyes and tore a slice of toast into little pieces. She popped them into her mouth as she thought about it. If she opened the gift, then that would mean she was potentially accepting the wizard’s offer. It would encourage him, and there had been no note or indication from whoever sent it. The owl was an ordinary school owl, so Henrietta knew he was a student, but that didn’t help her narrow it down. Even the wrapping didn’t give her any clues. 

She drank her milk; she hated the taste of pumpkin juice ever since Sirius hexed it to taste like sludge. And with the Weasley twins and Sirius’s son—Caelum—sitting four seats away, she wasn’t willing to chance it. 

“I don’t know,” Henrietta admitted. She hadn’t had any courtship offers since she came of age five weeks ago and, while it wasn’t strange, she had expected to receive one before now. Maybe that was presumptuous of her, but she thought that someone would be interested in marrying her. Now she had an offer and she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“Stop being so wishy-washy and open the stupid package,” Fay ordered. “Or I will.”

Henrietta snatched it from the table before Fay could touch it. She knew that Fay didn’t make idle threats. Fay would open it at the breakfast table and then announce what it was for everyone to hear; Fay had done it in their second year. Henrietta pulled on the ribbons and carefully folded them and set them to the side. She didn’t want them soiled by breakfast. The wrapping paper came next.

“Will you hurry up?” Fay leaned closer. “I want to know what it is.”

Henrietta laughed at her friend. She was impatient as well. She deliberately opened the box as slowly as she could just to see the frustration on Fay’s face. She gasped as she set the lid to the side and looked at the book-shaped locket that lay nestled in a pile of silk. It was gorgeous. 

She shuddered when she felt the powerful magic radiating from it. It reminded her of the family book that was in her library at home that had pictures of her ancestors. She opened the locket and smiled when the inside was empty. There weren’t pictures, which meant that the giver wanted her to place her own in it. There were multiple pages in the book, so she could place more than two pictures inside. She would be able to include pictures of her children and husband, keeping them close to her heart. 

Henrietta read the note underneath the locket. She didn’t recognize the handwriting, but he probably used a dicto-quill.

_ A wish for our future. _

Fay carefully examined the locket after Henrietta passed it to her. Fay was better at sensing magic and she knew that Fay wouldn’t damage it. “Wow! That feels old,” Fay said as she handed it back.

Henrietta stared at her best friend and glanced at the locket again. “What did you say?”

Fay shrugged at the question. “It feels old. Like heirloom old.” Her eyes narrowed on Henrietta. “He must really like you to part with something like that.”

Henrietta reverently placed the locket back into the box and spelled it shut so the locket wouldn’t fall out. She put it in her bag and finished eating breakfast. She grinned when she heard a few groans and loud curses coming from the male students. Apparently they had been watching her, and waiting to see if she would accept the gift. She could only receive one offer at a time and someone had beaten them. Marriage contracts took weeks, sometimes even months, to draw up and write. 

She pondered the words that Fay had said. Something old. Henrietta smiled as she left the Great Hall. Someone had been watching her. He (whomever he was) knew her favorite pre-courtship tradition and was willing to use it, putting everything on the line. A pureblood wizard would give the woman he wanted to marry five gifts. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. The last gift he would present in person—a Sickle for her shoe. Henrietta had fallen in love with the tradition when she was a little girl. Muggles had a variation of the tradition, but it would never hold the same meaning. 

If Henrietta rejected a gift, then it would mean she wouldn’t officially court him. The thought was daunting and exciting. The pre-courtship was done in secret. She wouldn’t be able to research the presents to see where they came from, or to which family they used to belong. She was also forbidden to ask other students if they knew who was sending the packages. Henrietta had to choose by the quality and meaning of each gift. 

She hummed as she walked to Transfiguration. Henrietta never thought that someone would realize her love of traditions, but someone did and he made sure that she knew. In three days he would send her the next gift, and she couldn’t wait to see what it was.

\--

“Aren’t you going to wear the locket?” Fay asked when she saw Henrietta put it in her robe pocket and not around her neck.

Henrietta shook her head as she finished brushing her hair. She twisted it up into a messy bun and sighed in relief when it stopped itching her neck. “I can’t. I have to wear all of the gifts at once if I accept his offer. I’m not allowed to wear them individually until I give him my answer.”

Fay snorted and grabbed her homework from her nightstand. “That’s a weird tradition. I’d wear it anyway.”

Henrietta rolled her eyes. “I know, but I’m not you.”

Fay laughed as they walked to the Great Hall. “I know. You’d make a horrible Dunbar.”

“And you’d make a horrible Potter,” Henrietta countered.

Fay threw an arm around her friend and shook her head. “No I wouldn’t. I’d be fantastic! Admit it!”

“You would,” Henrietta agreed after a few seconds of hemming and hawing. They burst into laughter and laughed even harder when people looked their way with confusion and annoyance. Henrietta and Fay were early risers and found it amusing when people acted like ghosts in the morning. Others drifted around the corridors and ran into walls. Colin Creevey was one of those people, which was hilarious since he was always chipper later in the day. It saved her from being followed and asked for autographs, though she didn’t have to worry about that since he was too intimidated by Fay to come near her. 

“What do you think it will be today?” Fay asked once they got themselves under control.

Henrietta shrugged as she kept her eye on the windows the owls flew through every morning. She absently ate breakfast, not really paying attention to what she was eating. She wasn’t very hungry but she knew if she didn’t eat now, by lunch she would be irritable and starving. It was a horrible combination.

The screech of owls made her gulp the last of her milk and finish her sausages as quickly as she could. She wiped her hands on the napkin so she wouldn’t get the present dirty. As soon as the owl landed in front of her, she relieved it of the burden and fed it a few bites of bacon. The present was flatter and rectangular. She unwrapped it immediately. Henrietta probably should have waited a few minutes so she didn’t look too eager, but she wanted to see what it was.

A silver hair comb. 

Sunflowers made of green stone in various shades decorated the top. The tines of the comb were longer than her fingers, which meant that she would be able to use it on her hair and it wouldn’t fall out. She used to own hair combs with shorter tines, but she hated them. Her mom would cast spells so Henrietta’s hair stayed in place, but Henrietta had never bothered to learn them. When she started attending Hogwarts, Henrietta gave them to Fay. Fay’s hair was shorter and thicker.

“Maybe he’s trying to tell you that you’d look better if you brushed your hair,” Fay chimed in.

Henrietta scowled and patted her messy bun. It didn’t look that bad. She liked it when her hair was messy. Strands framed her face and sometimes tickled the back of her neck. Her mom said it made her look charming. “Or maybe he’s saying that he likes my hair.”

Fay smirked when Henrietta glared at her. Fay snagged the note and waved it at her after she read it. “Maybe. Hey, aren’t flowers supposed to have special meanings and such?”

“Sunflowers mean devotion. Prehnite represents unconditional love.”

“Correct. That’s what the note says, anyway.” Fay laughed and ruffled Henrietta’s hair, grinning when she smacked her hand away. “You’re such a dork. Why do you know that?”

“No, I’m not. I just like to read, unlike some,” Henrietta defended. “You’re just jealous.” Henrietta mentally kicked herself when Fay’s smile vanished. Why did she bring that up again? A few months ago, Fay’s fiancé dumped her for Daphne Greengrass. Fay cried for a week, and Henrietta knew that Fay wasn’t completely over him.

“I already have a comb; I don’t need another. People might start accusing me of being a peacock,” Fay said after a few minutes of silence. “So, who do you think it is?”

Henrietta shook her head. Nope. She wasn’t playing this game. She would wait until the final gift. She wanted to know, but she could be patient when it was really important. This person was too important to lose. She placed the comb back in the box and put it in her bag. She would keep it with her, like she did the locket.

“Because Nearly-Headless Nick has been watching you ever since you got your gift—”

Henrietta spewed her drink across the table. The table burst into laughter as she shoved Fay, almost pushing her off the bench. Her suitor was not a ghost!

\--

“I know who it is!” Fay whispered as they walked down to breakfast three days later. The last few days, Fay randomly said male names and each one was more ridiculous and impossible than the last. “I looked up the—”

“No. You can’t tell me!” Henrietta said, fighting the panic that erupted when she realized that Fay wasn’t joking. She didn’t mind it too much when she knew that Fay was kidding around and making up names, but Henrietta really wasn’t allowed to find out who her suitor was. 

Fay pulled her to the side of the corridor and searched her eyes. She frowned when she noticed that Henrietta was breathing fast. “Calm down. Calm—Henrietta.” Fay sighed and cast a calming charm. “I wasn’t trying to—”

Henrietta forced herself to take deep breaths. She fisted her wand and mentally cursed. Why had she gotten so worked up? She received two gifts and panicked like a love-struck ninny about to lose her one true love. “I know. But you can’t tell me. It’s—”

“Part of the tradition. Okay. I won’t. Let’s go to breakfast; you’ll have another present waiting for you.” 

Henrietta counted the beats between her breaths as she walked into the Great Hall. She knew that she had the attention of almost everyone there. They wanted to see what was going to happen next. She knew that some of them wanted her to reject the next gift so they would have the chance to court her, but she knew her suitor wouldn’t give her reason to do so. His last two gifts had been thoughtful. He was planning for their future and, if she believed the message with the comb, he loved her. 

Her hands trembled when she reached for the new present. Henrietta was nervous. No one had ever shown her this much interest before, and she was excited and terrified. Henrietta was scared to find out his name prematurely because she would miss her chance, and scared to open his gift because she was falling for him. He captured her attention and she knew that this gift, like the other two, would be perfect.

A white monogrammed handkerchief with the initials A. F. 

_ A promise to never make you cry. _

Henrietta felt her heart melt at the words. She felt her fears and hesitation vanish as she reread the note for the second time. She wanted to meet him. She wanted to know his name. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped round her. She wanted to taste his kisses. Every gift screamed his intentions toward her, and she was listening. Her heart thudded in her chest as she thought about the feelings that had budded over the last week. Henrietta was falling in love with him, and she didn’t want to stop.

“Very poetic,” Fay said.

“Oh, hush you,” Henrietta retorted as she stored away the gift. 

“Are you going to accept his next gift?” Fay asked.

Henrietta smiled at her best friend and nodded. “Yes. I am.” 

Henrietta knew that when she accepted his next gift, she could declare her acceptance. She would finally be able to tell him that she was willing to court him. Six more days until their pre-courtship turned into a longer courting period, where they got to know each other more and went on chaperoned dates. But unlike others, they would know each other’s feelings. 

She almost squealed at the thought. While others were forced to read through a long, dry document that detailed what their marriage would entail, and what was required of them, she received gifts full of magic and emotion. Her suitor knew her very well.

\--

Henrietta slammed the lid back on the fourth gift as her face flushed blazing red. She shoved it in her bag when Fay tried to steal it from her and peek. Knickers. Her suitor sent her a pair of royal blue knickers. Her blush burned hotter as she thought about the implication. She probably should have been angry that he sent them while she was in the Great Hall, but she was too embarrassed to think of anything else. 

“No. You’re not opening it!” Henrietta growled. 

“It can’t be that—never mind.” Fay laughed in her face as Henrietta shook her head. “Apparently, I was wrong.” Fay whistled in awe. “He has guts to send something like that.”

Henrietta glared at Fay and the rest of the Great Hall when a few students laughed or continued to stare. She wasn’t on display, and they had no right to poke their noses into her private business. She grabbed her things and stalked from the room with her head held high. It was embarrassing, but hilarious. Sirius would have been proud if she pulled something like that off. 

She almost showed them off to the entire school! If Fay hadn’t riled her up that morning, she would have unwrapped the present like normal and allowed Fay to look at it. Fay wouldn’t have been able to resist laughing or commenting on a pair of blue knickers. It was bad enough that everyone saw how embarrassed she was. They probably already guessed what was in the box, and most wouldn’t be that far off. 

Henrietta knew there was a note with the gift, but she couldn’t bring herself to read it. Fay caught up to her and shot her glances when she thought Henrietta wasn’t looking. She sighed when she knew that Fay wasn’t going to let it go. She always had to have the last word.

“So . . . are they lace or silk?”

\--

Henrietta laid the last three items on her bed. Today she would be able to declare her intentions and find out his name. She already had something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The last gift was a Sickle for her shoe. When she entered the Great Hall wearing all of the pervious gifts, he would present himself and place the Sickle in her shoe to complete the ritual. It would also signal the beginning of their official courtship.

Fay styled her hair into a riotous mess of braids and curls, held up by the stunning comb. A few curls framed her face and fell over her shoulder. The prehnite enhanced her green eyes she had inherited from her mother, Lily. Henrietta clasped the locket around her neck, making sure that it was visible. The handkerchief went in the pocket next to her heart. She had already put on the knickers after her shower. She wasn’t going to tell Fay, but they were lace. Henrietta glanced at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. She was officially accepting someone’s marriage offer today. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she thought about her future. 

“He loves you,” Fay whispered from behind her.

Henrietta clasped her hand and smiled. She wished Fay could truly share her joy. She wished that Fay’s ex-fiancé had seen how amazing and sweet she was. Fay deserved to love someone, and to be loved in return. A small piece of her felt guilty for being so happy when her friend was still struggling through the break up, but she knew Fay would lecture her if she ever brought it up. Fay would have many chances in the future to fall in love. It was Henrietta’s turn.

“I know.” She hugged Fay before they left the tower. Breakfast had already started, and she didn’t want her suitor to think she had rejected him. Henrietta never thought it would take an hour to get ready, but she wanted to show how much he meant to her. 

Everyone stared at her when she entered the Great Hall that morning. She walked to the Gryffindor table and refused to look around the room. She didn’t want to worry or speculate about who was her secret suitor. He would come to her when he was ready. She piled her plate high with food and ate while she waited. 

“It’s a beautiful morning,” Neville Longbottom said as he sat next to her.

Henrietta glanced into his warm brown eyes and smiled. Neville. Alice and Frank were her godparents. They grew up together, but they hadn’t interacted much since first year. He spent time with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, while she befriended Fay. Neville was in love with her; the thought made her giddy. She remembered when she told him about her favorite pre-courting rites when she was younger. She hadn’t thought anything of it, until now. Henrietta never thought that he would remember what she said and use that to steal her heart.

“A Sickle for your thoughts?” he asked with a teasing grin. He pulled a Sickle out from behind her ear, as she stared at him with surprise.

He used to pull that trick with her all the time! “I thought it was a Knut,” she said as she stared at the silver coin in his hand. The last gift. It would bind them together until they were married.

“I think you’re worth more than a Knut, don’t you?” Neville asked as he knelt on the stone floor. He held up the Sickle for other people to see, and then recited the last past of the ritual, “You accepted my token for moving toward the future and my gift for our new life. You accepted the vow for happiness and my promise of fidelity. Will you, Henrietta Potter, accept the wish of good fortune and prosperity?”

Henrietta forced back the tears as she nodded. Neville said he would never make her cry, and she wouldn’t turn him into a liar—even if they were tears of joy. She placed her left foot on his upraised knee. Neville removed her shoe and set the Sickle inside. As soon as her foot touched the Sickle, magic flared between them, blazing and bright, a signal that Magic accepted their courtship and deemed it worthy.

Henrietta pulled him to his feet and captured his lips. She grinned into the kiss when people gasped and hooted. She knew her dad would approve of her choice. She was a Potter and she won a husband: valiant and honorable.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr if you’re interested.


End file.
